With Sony finally bringing their IPs to PC, a God of War (GoW) game is playable for the first time on PC. This is the first GoW game that I have played, however, this one does not require you to have played the previous games in order to understand the story. This game will feature gods from Norse Mythology and it’s rich with it. This makes the feeling of being in the world really fitting, something that I myself like.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The story is really well done, with lots of lore scattered around
- Fun and very interesting characters with their own personalities
- Combat is engaging, with interesting upgrades to utilize
- Awesome boss battles that are really fun
- Many secrets to acquire to upgrade your health, rage, weapons, or armor
- Amazing graphics that are very nice to look at
Cons
- Alfheim felt a little slow when I first arrived in the area
- Kratos will only use his fists during Spartan Rage and won’t use any of his weapons
Story
Many years have passed since Kratos took his revenge on the Olympian gods and him having survived the final battle with Zeus. Kratos has since traveled to Midgard in Ancient Norway, where he now lives with his son Atreus. They are both mourning the passing of Faye, Kratos second wife, and her final request was for her ashes to be spread from the highest peak of the Nine Realms. Joseph Seed from Far Cry 5, who is a mysterious stranger in this game, attacks Kratos at his home and apparently cannot feel any sort of pain. After the fight, Kratos takes Atreus and heads out on an adventure, where he will teach his son how to survive a harsh world.
The story for God of War is really good and I honestly think it’s one of the best stories that I have witnessed in gaming. The characters are all brimming with personalities that make them unique and special. My favorite character has to be Mimir, he is funny, has lots of knowledge and wisdom, while being a travel comparing.
I also like Sindri and Brok, who are both dwarfs, as they help upgrade weapons and much more, because they are blacksmiths. Sindri is an extreme germaphobe and I can kind of somewhat relate to him. I mean, I am not putting my hands in a dragon's mouth to grab a tooth. Brok, who is my favorite out of the two brothers, is a hothead who has a very serious-like attitude, with a great voice.
There are other supporting characters that are really good too with their own unique personalities that are honestly worth talking about. However, that would make this review longer than it should be.
There is also a ton of lore out there for you to collect and find, each will give you some backstories of some characters or of the areas you visit.
Gameplay
Combat is really engaging and fun. I like how the combos worked when attacking enemies. Instead of a top-down perspective similar to games like Devil May Cry, it takes a third-person camera, where you are right behind Kratos. Despite this being my first God of War game, this gameplay change works very well and as mentioned before is really fun.
You will start out the game using Leviathan’s Axe which has ice-based powers that can be recalled at any time when thrown and is also used for puzzle solving. My favorite weapon out of the two has to be The Blades of Chaos, these are fire-based swords that can attack multiple enemies. Each of these weapons can be upgraded and have enchantments to them, which can provide stat bonuses or unique perks when it is selected and equipped.
Armor can also be upgraded and have up to three enchantment sockets to them. There are also upgrades that you can get from getting EXP, these can give you extra attacks of other special abilities.
Atreus also has a few upgrades that he can get as well, like extra arrow damage and can get access to light and shock arrows. Light arrows can weaken enemies and stun them while lighting arrows shock and paralyze them. Atreus can even help you in combat and help solve some puzzles, he is actually quite useful and not someone who is just there as a character.
There are some amazing bosses that you can go and fight, they are challenging and that’s what makes a boss fight legendary. My favorite fight has to be Hraezlyr, a dragon that can shoot lightning from its mouth. The fight was just outright fun and satisfying after beating it, though there are other great bosses throughout the game, and they do keep the hype up.
Kratos can enter a rage mode if his rage meter is at a certain length, if you played Devil May Cry and know about Dante’s Devil Trigger, think of it like that. Kratos gets increased attack damage and life steal when in this mode, it’s best used when you are in a sticky situation.
There are also a ton of secrets for you to find, some of them are upgrades to your weapons or armor, while some are for your health and rage meter. The game rewards you for going out of your way to finding things and is something that I myself really like.
There are two issues that I have with God of War. Now, I should note that these may be nitpicky to some. The first issue that I had was that I felt when I entered Alfheim, the game just seemed to slow down in terms of story. I guess moving all of these giant gemstones really killed it for me. The next issue will have to do with Kratos entering his rage mode. For some reason, Kratos will only use his fists in this state. Even with all of that combat knowledge, he never seemed to have made any attacks with Leviathan’s Axe or The Blades of Chaos.
Do note that these are issues that should not hold you back from buying this game, just two things worth mentioning.
Graphics and Performance
God of War is a very beautiful game, it’s colorful and really well done. Each area gives off that strong Norse Mythology vibe and you can really feel it throughout. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM. I came across no issues while I was playing but I did come across some lag in one area, although that is due to the main engine of the game not being made for PC's.
Final Verdict
God of War is a fantastic game and something that I myself really enjoyed playing. The game is challenging, fun, and brimming with collectibles. It shows us what a triple AAA game should have, and it does it very well, kind of like Doom Eternal on how it delivered its content. If you are a fan of the GoW series or are starting out, this is a must-have at full price either on PS4 or PC.
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